diff --git a/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/compositor/fonts.dart b/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/compositor/fonts.dart
index 3c74dc49778e990142b3c45ad2d9bf2e21484945..9e40600d338a95a62ffdec4c725a93e925fbb195 100644
--- a/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/compositor/fonts.dart
+++ b/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/compositor/fonts.dart
@@ -4,9 +4,14 @@
 
 part of engine;
 
+const String _robotoUrl =
+    'http://fonts.gstatic.com/s/roboto/v20/KFOmCnqEu92Fr1Me5WZLCzYlKw.ttf';
+
 class SkiaFontCollection {
   final List<Future<ByteBuffer>> _loadingFontBuffers = <Future<ByteBuffer>>[];
 
+  final Set<String> registeredFamilies = <String>{};
+
   Future<void> ensureFontsLoaded() async {
     final List<Uint8List> fontBuffers =
         (await Future.wait<ByteBuffer>(_loadingFontBuffers))
@@ -46,6 +51,8 @@ class SkiaFontCollection {
       final String family = fontFamily['family'];
       final List<dynamic> fontAssets = fontFamily['fonts'];
 
+      registeredFamilies.add(family);
+
       for (dynamic fontAssetItem in fontAssets) {
         final Map<String, dynamic> fontAsset = fontAssetItem;
         final String asset = fontAsset['asset'];
@@ -54,6 +61,16 @@ class SkiaFontCollection {
             .then((dynamic fetchResult) => fetchResult.arrayBuffer()));
       }
     }
+
+    /// We need a default fallback font for CanvasKit, in order to
+    /// avoid crashing while laying out text with an unregistered font. We chose
+    /// Roboto to match Android.
+    if (!registeredFamilies.contains('Roboto')) {
+      // Download Roboto and add it to the font buffers.
+      _loadingFontBuffers.add(html.window
+          .fetch(_robotoUrl)
+          .then((dynamic fetchResult) => fetchResult.arrayBuffer()));
+    }
   }
 
   js.JsObject skFontMgr;
diff --git a/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/compositor/text.dart b/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/compositor/text.dart
index f598c182f2cd3ab17de6ed58ec1aee8d49ff25ba..051c6ce06d6c475509228809813ef0af48e23fe1 100644
--- a/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/compositor/text.dart
+++ b/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/compositor/text.dart
@@ -9,17 +9,12 @@ part of engine;
 /// fonts. CanvasKit reads the font name from the font's bytes. So, we map
 /// some common family names to how they are registered in the Gallery app.
 const Map<String, String> _fontFamilyOverrides = <String, String>{
-  'Roboto': 'Google Sans',
   'GoogleSans': 'Google Sans',
   'GoogleSansDisplay': 'Google Sans Display',
   'MaterialIcons': 'Material Icons',
-  'LibreFranklin': 'LibreFranklin',
+  'LibreFranklin': 'Libre Franklin',
   'AbrilFatface': 'Abril Fatface',
   'packages/cupertino_icons/CupertinoIcons': 'CupertinoIcons',
-  '.SF Pro Text': 'Google Sans',
-  '.SF Pro Display': 'Google Sans',
-  '.SF UI Text': 'Google Sans',
-  '.SF UI Display': 'Google Sans',
 };
 
 class SkParagraphStyle implements ui.ParagraphStyle {
@@ -71,7 +66,8 @@ class SkParagraphStyle implements ui.ParagraphStyle {
       skTextStyle['fontSize'] = fontSize;
     }
 
-    if (fontFamily == null) {
+    if (fontFamily == null ||
+        !skiaFontCollection.registeredFamilies.contains(fontFamily)) {
       fontFamily = 'Roboto';
     }
     if (_fontFamilyOverrides.containsKey(fontFamily)) {
@@ -205,7 +201,8 @@ class SkTextStyle implements ui.TextStyle {
       style['fontSize'] = fontSize;
     }
 
-    if (fontFamily == null) {
+    if (fontFamily == null ||
+        !skiaFontCollection.registeredFamilies.contains(fontFamily)) {
       fontFamily = 'Roboto';
     }